New Burden For Landlords

December 17, 1985

A change in the Illinois Human Rights Act strengthens prohibitions against refusing to rent to families with children. There certainly is a need for decent, affordable family housing, but this particular measure is a clear case of good intentions leading to bad law.

The reasons landlords prefer childless adults in some buildings are so many and varied that lawmakers are asking for trouble in trying to make rules that apply to every situation. The real problem is the shrinking supply of affordable housing suitable for children. Too many buildings have been milked by their landlords and abandoned. Others have been rehabilitated into expensive price levels.

Rather than shift the burden of this tight housing market to the landlords of the remaining units, government at all levels should take steps to reverse policies that have helped deplete the supply. Landlords who restore units for families with children can be granted a temporary delay in increased assessments. Lending institutions can be encouraged to form loan pools targeted for the purchase and rehabilitation of family units. Various groups, including Chicago`s Housing Abandonment Task Force, have made sound recommendations for reorganizing Housing Court to encourage responsible landlords and punish irresponsible ones.

And, finally, Chicago`s rigid, obsolete building code should be revised to permit labor-saving materials used safely around the country but banned here because of union pressure.